


Don't Confuse Revenge with Justice

by F1_rabbit



Series: Adventures in Cybercrime [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 07:23:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5039107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin's unemployed and bored but he's about to have that change when some new hackers start causing chaos in his backyard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reality

There's a man lurking on a bike, the engine's running and he's glancing about, cold blue eyes narrowed in the sunlight. His body is hunched in anticipation and there's a spare helmet sitting on the back but there's no sign of anyone else in the alley.

After a few minutes he glances at his watch, his brow furrowed as he shakes his head in worry. He shifts his weight, resting one foot on the floor as he prepares to get off the bike, hand hovering over the ignition. When, an alarm sounds and a door bursts open. A man dressed in all black runs out carrying a gym bag that's full to bursting. He catches the spare helmet that's thrown to him, putting it on before jumping onto the back of the bike.

They drive off at a reasonable speed, but nothing so fast that it'll attract the attention of the police, that's the last thing they need. It's rush hour and the cars may be stationary but they're able to weave in among all the traffic, indistinguishable from all the other bikes on the road.

It's not long before they're pulling up at an old abandoned building, the passenger hopping off to hold open the broken fence so that the bike can be wheeled through before arranging it so that it looks undamaged. The building has several broken windows and the paint has all peeled away, if it was a larger place it would have been torn down for bigger and better things many years ago, but it was a small factory, employing less than fifty people when it shut down so it's not worth anyone's time yet. There's still plenty of land that's much easier to develop elsewhere in the city.

Which is all good for them; they get to live rent free, 'borrowing' the wireless internet from the offices nearby and having to huddle together to keep warm in the winter, it's all they need.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes."

"You're going to look so good in it."

"Now all we need is an access point."

*****

"No." Nico and Dany are laughing and nudging each other.

"But I'd be able to help." Kevin was trying for playful but it just sounds pitiful.

"Still no. It's your own fault that you got fired."

"Nico, please, I got you this job."

"No, I gave him this job." Dany gives him a look that says this is the end of the conversation and heads to the workshop area of the shop. The place also doubles as a gamer hangout and coffee shop, and has become Kevin's regular haunt now that he's unemployed.

There's a new addition to the collection of pinball machines and retro video games, an old gumball machine with a piece of paper that says 'No! Do not eat!' on it. Kevin would love to know who tried to eat one and made that note necessary.

Kevin's sitting in a comfy chair, tapping away on his laptop and sipping at his coffee, it's long since cold but he doesn't mind, the contrast of bitter and sweet clearing his thoughts and helping him focus.

Nico sits down and tries to offer comfort but it's no good, Kevin knows that he's lucky not to be in jail, but it's put him on the blacklist for all the big companies, just because he wasn't charged doesn't mean that people believe he's innocent. So he's freelancing for a bit to keep his hand in but it's nowhere near enough to pay for his share of the bills.

"Marcus is an angel to put up with you."

"I know. I don't deserve him." Kevin looks remorseful, time has given him a chance to think about what he's done and live with the consequences. Nico reaches out to hold his hand, Kevin doesn't deserve this either, but he'll take it. He knows that Nico should hate him but since everything worked out for Nico, he seems to have forgiven him. "How's Paul?"

"Good, I'm taking him home to my parents soon." Nico's got his biggest grin on, the one that shows all his teeth, and he fidgets with his glasses, not that he's got anything to worry about with Paul.

"They'll love him, nice guy, good job, worships the ground you walk on. What more could parents wish for?" Kevin wishes his in-laws to be would think the same of him, but they know that he's not the settling down type, not with his life, and they don't even know the half of it. He still thinks of Marcus' parents as his in-laws to be, even though the subject of marriage hasn't come up again since all the craziness.

"I should get back to work. There's two laptops that aren't going to fix themselves!"

"I guess I should go home and make dinner." Nico laughs at Kevin's suggestion, Marcus has told them all how bad he is at cooking, although he's not poisoned him yet. He even made dinner for everyone once, and it was edible, although if he'd failed at making pasta and sauce he's not sure he'd have ever heard the end of it.

Kevin gathers up his stuff and even tidies away the coffee cup, which earns him an eyebrow raise from Dany before hurrying home, he likes being home when Marcus finishes a shift, prepared with hugs and comfort. It's about all he's got to offer the world at the moment, but as long as he makes Marcus happy, he's okay with that.

*****

"How was your day?" Marcus' footsteps echo around the flat, police boots were not designed with quiet in mind. Kevin's pleased with his timing, the food is in the oven and the dishes are all done, small victories for him.

"Ugh."

"That good?" Kevin rushes in with a hug for his boyfriend, feeling the stress leave him as they kiss. "Dinner will be twenty minutes, you've got time for a shower. And then you can tell me all about your day."

Marcus gives him a quick kiss before sitting down on the bed, letting out a sigh as he removes his boots. The trousers are folded up and sat in a neat pile on the chest of drawers, the rest of the clothes slung into the laundry bag before he wanders towards the shower. He's putting on a show for Kevin, one of the perks of an open plan flat, the slight jiggle of his bum as he walks on the wooden floors has Kevin watching in appreciation.

Kevin thinks about heading to join him in the shower, but they'd just end up with burnt food and Marcus looks like he could do with dinner and then bed before starting a week of early shifts.

After food Marcus is struggling to keep his eyes open. Kevin clears the plates away and checks that Marcus has a clean shirt ironed, before curling up next to him in bed.

"Maybe I could do something to help you forget about your day?" Kevin dives under the covers before making quick work of sucking him off, leaving him sated and content, and then holding Marcus tight while he drifts off to sleep.

*****

"I need a favour." Dany looks unhappy at having to ask. Kevin thinks about teasing him but then realises that if Dany throws him out of his shop he'll have nowhere to go during the day. He'll have nothing to do but stay at home and it'll all be his own fault. Kevin's still thinking when Dany says, "You kind of owe me."

"How can I help?"

"Dan's taking me away for a few days. It was a last minute thing, so…" Dany takes a deep breath before continuing, "Would you help Nico look after this place?"

"Sure."

"Nico would be in charge," Dany blurts out, although that's what Kevin had assumed, "but an extra pair of hands would be useful."

Kevin smiles, he's glad that Dany's forgiven him enough to ask this of him. "I understand."

"Thanks." Dany moves in for a hug, it's been years since they were friends, although it's starting to feel like they might be friends again.

"So where's Dan taking you?"

Dany chats away about their planned holiday until a customer comes in and he makes his excuses, his last words are, "Just make sure that the police don't have an excuse to raid the place."

Kevin nods, he knows he deserves all these little digs, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't hurt. He's promised Marcus that he's going to do things the right way now, and that's a promise he intends to keep.

He grabs another coffee, hesitating before drinking what will be his sixth cup of the day, before getting comfy to work on a little side project that he's been at for a while. It should make a cute app, which would solve his money problems without all this tedious applying for jobs lark.

Kevin's finished coding another block of code, sipping at his now cold coffee, when he realises that a couple of people are sat down opposite him. Stoffel's a familiar face, he's a computer science student at the University and he's often in here, asking questions that Kevin is more than happy to answer. It's nice to feel useful and he's quite liked sharing his knowledge.

The guy next to him looks like he's a drummer in a grunge band, he's got a collection of piercings; some in both ears, a bar through his eyebrow, a ring though his nose and a lip ring. He's also dressed from head to toe in black, with dark curly hair that looks in need of a wash. If you cleaned him up and put him in a suit he'd be called handsome, but like this he just looks scruffy. Although compared to Stoffel's prep boy look, everyone looks scruffy, even Kevin in his jeans and hoodie.

"This is Kevin, the guy I was telling you about." The guy nods as Stoffel turns to face Kevin.

"Kevin, this is my boyfriend, Jo." Kevin's sure that his face has surprise written all over it, he's aware that his eyebrows must be approaching his hair line and he's trying to get them to come back down but he's shocked that they're a couple. They just seem so different, but the same is true of him and Marcus, although they look alike, underneath it all they're the exact opposite.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Kevin puts his hand out to shake Jo's but Jo doesn't take it, instead he waves.

"Didn't expect me to be dating a guy?" Stoffel asks, it doesn't take a master of body language to see that things are awkward.

"No. Yes. I mean I didn't really think about it." Kevin waves a hand trying to dismiss the idea that he's a homophobe. "This is my boyfriend." A couple of clicks and he spins the laptop screen round for them to see, it's Marcus playing ice hockey with his little brother, the photo was taken when they were home at Christmas.

"He's cute." Stoffel glares at Jo as he shrugs, but when he smiles Kevin can see the attraction. He's got a nice smile that not many people get to see, judging from Stoffel's reaction to it, his whole face lights up when he sees Jo smile.  

Kevin turns the laptop back round, he doesn't advertise the fact that he's dating a police officer, not that he has any photos of him in his uniform. With nothing further to say he changes the subject to something more familiar.

"Did the code work?"

"Yes. Perfectly! Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it."

Kevin smiles, he's glad he could help someone, it does make him feel better about his current situation. They chat away for a little while, Jo's on the same course as Stoffel, and from watching them together, Kevin can now see how good they are together. Jo sits close to Stoffel and fidgets with the hem of his shirt, a way of being close without attracting too much attention.

The conversation shifts to games and Stoffel laments that his laptop's not fast enough to run a lot of the new ones. "Let's have a look at it." Stoffel hands the laptop over to Kevin who clicks through the settings and peers at the bottom of it looking for the system information. "I've got the bits to upgrade this at home. Old parts."

"You would be my god if you could do that!" It's Jo's turn to fake looking jealous.

Jo looks at his watch. "We've got time now. If you're not busy."

"Yeah, sure. My flat's just fifteen minutes from here." Kevin shoves everything in his bag, puts his coffee cup back and says goodbye to Dany.

"Nine a.m. sharp tomorrow, okay? Nico's going to open up."

"Don't worry about it! Enjoy your holiday!" Kevin says, as he wanders out of the shop, leading his two young students back to the flat.

Kevin's grateful that he's had the time to keep the flat tidy, and that there's nothing left lying about that would tell them that Marcus is a police officer. He doesn't want people to think he's some kind of undercover informant for the police. Even though he's proud of Marcus, there's an uneasy relationship between those with hacking skills and law enforcement.

He's busy making coffee for his guests, although he's sure that his eighth cup is a bad idea, but he's given up on the hope of sleeping at a reasonable time tonight, he might just sit in bed coding while Marcus sleeps, at least he'd be able to have breakfast with him.

Jo's looking through their DVD collection and Stoffel's working away putting the new parts into his laptop while they chat. Kevin glances at the clock, Marcus is due home any moment and he'll be in his uniform. He considers trying to herd Stoffel and Jo out of the flat, but it would be suspicious so he braces himself for the onslaught of questions and takes a deep breath.

Marcus wanders through the door right on time, and everyone looks up. Kevin's looking at everyone's face, trying to work out if either of them are going to run for it now they've seen a police officer. There's no movement and the silence is extending out to the point of rudeness. "Stoffel, Jo, this is my boyfriend, Marcus."

"He's even cuter in uniform," Jo says. Kevin acts offended but he's relieved that it's not too awkward. There's introductions all round and Marcus heads off for a shower, this time with none of the show that he put on last night.

When Marcus returns from his shower, topless and in sweatpants, he comes to sit down with them and Kevin confesses something. "I haven't made any dinner, I got distracted with this."

"Pizza?" Marcus looks happy about this turn of events, as much as Kevin's trying he knows that his cooking skills are limited, so he's sure that Marcus will be happy to have a night off.

"You guys are welcome to stay." Kevin's already dialling the local takeaway place while he's offering, he's never known students to say no to free food. They both nod and food is ordered, with Marcus' police discount, although the best perk is getting it delivered in less than half an hour.

It's a pleasant evening and everyone seems to get on well. Stoffel was thrilled with his new upgraded laptop and Jo asked a lot of questions about Marcus' job, now is the time that the final year students are going to have to start thinking about what they're going to do next. Jo borrows a couple of DVDs, Kevin doesn't mind too much if they don't get them back, they've got digital copies of them all anyway.

Marcus heads to bed right after Stoffel and Jo leave, Kevin sits next to him working away until 4 a.m. when he can't keep his eyes open any longer. He knows that he'll not be up to see Marcus before he leaves, but he tried.

When Marcus wakes up he can't find his laptop, he's sure that he brought it home but it's nowhere to be seen, although he's working a week of earlies after a week of lates, which upsets all sense of time. Shift-lag, it's like jet-lag but without the fun of going on holiday.

*****

"Did you get it?"

Jo pulls out a large laptop emblazoned with the police logo. It's Marcus' laptop that he'd swiped while looking at the DVDs, it's no use to them now but once it's connected to the police servers it will be very useful indeed.

Stoffel reaches out and grabs Jo's hoodie, pulling their bodies together and kissing him with a frenzied passion. Jo putting his tongue stud to good use teasing Stoffel; knowing that every touch of metal turns him on, reminding him of how wonderful it feels against other parts of his body.

"We have to go now, I need to be in and out before he's on shift." Stoffel's pulling on the uniform that they acquired the other day, it hadn't been too difficult to find out who supplied the uniforms and then bypass their security. Although they'd had a little bit of help with that.

Jo lays out everything Stoffel will need before placing them in one by one into a generic looking black rucksack. Stoffel hands Jo his bike helmet, and Jo's staring at him intently, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I've done dumber things than this for flimsier reasons. And I'd like you to come with me." Stoffel drops to one knee and takes his hand before continuing, "If I pull it off I need a witness, and if I fail I need an escape plan."

Jo laughs and slides his helmet on, pulling Stoffel to his feet and resting their foreheads together before hopping onto the bike. Riding out into the dark, cloudy night, they're both hoping that everything will work out for them.


	2. Power Struggle

Marcus slides into work, nothing much has happened since he left yesterday. He grabs a cup of coffee and heads to his room, it's small but quiet, where he sees his laptop sitting. At least it's here, he was starting to worry about where it could be but he must have left here yesterday. He logs in and gets to work, it's a mixture of minor fraud and identity theft cases, most of which don't need a lot of effort for him to get an IP address and then a court order to get a physical address. He doesn't go out to chase them down, that's left to other police officers; he's more useful doing this than out on the streets.

It's an uneventful morning for Marcus, clearing the never-ending list of cases, until something strange pops up on his screen. The colours aren't right for the common variety of pop up spam and the script is an unusual one for advertising. But it's not the font that's the problem, it's what it says.

**Justice Will Be Served**

He yanks the Ethernet cable out, severing the connection to the internet, and runs diagnostics on the machine. All it finds is the script to make the pop-up appear but there doesn't appear to be any reason for it. So why would anyone bother?

There's nothing stored on his laptop that's worth stealing, it's just a portal to connect to the main law enforcement servers. Something clicks in his mind and he's tapping away at the keyboard, navigating the layers of security, checking that there's nothing unusual. His heart is pounding and his eyes are wide, a huge contrast to their normal sleepy look. He's often asked by colleagues if he's tired, for them to mumble apologies when he says it's just how he looks.

Marcus is almost calm, he's been through the security and there's no sign of any breach. There's a nifty little bit of software running, he designed it, to check for large scale access to files. It checks to see if many files were modified at the same time, like if someone was copying lots of them while stealing data. The software says that it's going to take fifteen minutes, although that doesn't mean anything, last time the operating system claimed it would take half an hour to install updates it took just short of four hours.

He wanders off to get a coffee, there's nothing he can do while it's running and a watched program never completes. Marcus has a quick chat with some of his colleagues while he's waiting for the kettle to boil, small talk before he makes his excuses, it's one of the major downsides to not being out at work, never being able to talk about your personal life or the man that you love. Although the stereotypes of the geeky virgin working in IT means that no-one ever asks him if he's dating someone.

When he returns to his little room he smiles when he sees that the program has completed. But when he sees what it's found his blood runs cold. There were thirty-nine files all copied at the same time. He grabs the phone and gets his superior on the line, the receiver balanced between his shoulder and ear as he types away, trying to trace who stole the files.

"I've found a breach of the main law enforcement server, Sir."

"I'll notify the company that's responsible for them. What was stolen?"

"Thirty-nine files, all closed cases, mixture of dates and crimes. Sir."

"Send everything to Detective Inspector Kaltenborn. You know what to do, get us something that we can use to find these criminals."

"Yes, Sir."

The detectives will be able to find the pattern in the stolen files, which will help with a conviction but only if he finds a way for them to locate the criminals. He's trawling through all the logs, hoping that it'll give him something useful when he spots a back door that the hackers must have left themselves, maybe they were planning on coming back for more, and what they had already taken was a test run.

Marcus starts a trace on it, although he's pretty sure it must be kids, who else would leave themselves an access point and then taunt him so that he'll go looking for it? He can picture them now, thirteen, spotty and a hard drive filled with porn. They'll think it's cool to be arrested right up until the word 'jail' is mentioned and then they'll be crying for mummy and daddy. Suspended sentence at most. Although targeting the police servers is a big step up from hacking the school's system to change their grades.

He manages to get an IP address, where the rest of the files were going to be transferred to. The court order is sent and that's all he can do for now, so he goes back to all the other cases that require his attention. Marcus has a vague feeling of unease, there's something nagging away at him, he's not sure what it is but he senses that this case is going to be trouble.

"Ericsson, you're needed," Nasr says, "We've got a trace on the criminals that hacked into the servers and we're going to raid the place."

"Surely you need armed response, not IT?" He hates being referred to as IT by the others, he's not here to fix printers and help them use Word, but it makes his point. He's not the right guy for this job.

"We might need you to translate, no-one else is fluent in geek." Marcus rolls his eyes as Nasr disappears down the corridor, he didn't bother to shut the door and Marcus can hear him laughing away at his own joke. He grabs his stab-proof vest and locks the door, checking it twice after everything that's happened, before wandering up to the command centre. It's rather a glorious name for a room with some chairs and projector but it's the only room large enough to hold everyone on an operation this big.

When Marcus sees the place they're raiding he wonders just how unlucky one man can be. It's Dany's place, that Nico is looking after while he's on holiday and Kevin's working there, plus given the time of day, there's a good chance Paul will be there eating his lunch after court in the morning. He stops himself from groaning out loud but he knows this is going to be a mess. His last thought before they're heading out to the scene is, 'please don't let Kevin be involved in this'.

He and Nasr travel in silence, they don't have anything in common, apart from the cases they work and neither of them is that bothered about getting to know the other. Marcus spends the journey worrying about Kevin, but there's no way to let him know about the raid that won't be found out when they review all the evidence from the scene later, so he puts his head down and prays that his friends won't be harmed.

*****

"There's two laptops that need fixing, bugs with the operating system." Nico pauses, clicking his fingers in front of Kevin's face, trying to get his attention.

"Sir. Yes, Sir!" Kevin mocks a salute. "Fix two laptops, Sir!"

Kevin wanders off to the little workstation and raises an eyebrow as Paul strolls in with lunch for Nico. Although there was brief period when Nico swore that he'd never eat another burger, it didn't last long and at least once a week Paul's bringing him a treat.

He watches them curl up on a scruffy sofa, their bodies close, Paul gazing into Nico's eyes as he tells him about his day. It's adorable and Kevin feels a strange pang of pride, although he blazed into Nico's life and destroyed it, Nico managed to pick up all the pieces and build something much better. A life that he's happy with.

Kevin's wondering when he'll be able to do that with his life, when he's roused from his thoughts by Jo striding into the shop. He says hi and Jo grabs a coffee before curling up on a chair in the sun. Jo's toying with his lip ring, tongue darting in and out, it's fascinating. He's so transfixed by the sight of this that he doesn't notice the armed response unit taking their places outside the shop.

The officers come flying through the door, at the same time that others storm through the back door. Kevin ducks behind the counter and Paul drags Nico onto the floor, spilling fries everywhere, but Paul knows the deal, if you look like you're a threat they will take you out. Kevin's lying down, hands behind his head, he's never asked Marcus if this is what the police make you do or if it's only in the movies but it seems like the safest way.

There's a moment of silence, and then someone barks an order into their radio, 'all clear'. The cold of the metal handcuffs against Kevin's wrist brings him back to reality, his first thought – how angry is Dany going to be when he finds out about this?

Kevin's hauled to his feet and he sees Jo being led out of the shop, shrugging off the officer who's trying to escort him and getting dragged out by two of them for his effort.

Paul's soft voice cuts through the silence, he's telling Nico that it'll all be okay before addressing the officer. "I'm a lawyer. Card's in my pocket."

"Lawyer, eh?" The officer rummages through Paul's pocket and eyes the tiny card with suspicion. It doesn't get the handcuffs off, or stop them being taken to the station but they're a lot less rough with Paul and Nico than they were with Jo.

Kevin's marched out last, there's banging from the police van that must be Jo. He shakes his head at all of it, and he can't help but feel that it's somehow his fault, something to do with the data he stole from MCL bank. They've been charged and fined in several countries for all the fraud that he exposed but he's escaped punishment altogether.

As he's led to a police car, he spots Marcus waiting at the edge of the cordon, waiting to be allowed into the scene. It makes sense that he's here, he's one of the few cybercrime specialists. When Kevin looks at Marcus he looks away, maybe he didn't see him, but it still hurts. Although he's not sure what he was expecting Marcus to do, he knows that he's not out at work, and being linked with a known hacker would do more harm for his career than if they found out he was gay.

Marcus watches as Kevin's shoved into the police car and driven away, he couldn't even look at him and the pain he feels is excruciating. It's not the doing his job part, Kevin knows that if it came down to it, he'd arrest him just like anyone else. But the fact he can't go over and comfort his boyfriend that makes him feel awful.

Two hours later Marcus is on his way back to the station with the officers who thought it would be funny to leave Jo in the van for a couple of hours for a laugh. All the laptops and computers at the scene have been collected and he'll have to go through them all for evidence, even though most of them will belong to customers. Marcus has tried asking what's happening with the suspects but no-one's got an answer for him and he knows that phoning the station would be suspicious so he sits in the front of the van, leg jiggling as he fidgets with the straps on his stab-proof vest. The young officer driving rolls her eyes at him, he knows that he's making an awful passenger but he can't switch off the rising panic that he feels inside.

Once they're at the station he gets left with the honour of checking Jo in, he thinks about recusing himself but it would cause more problems than it solves, so he says nothing.

"Any chance you can get me out of here?"

"No. But if you're innocent, you've got nothing to worry about." Marcus isn't sure if that's going to be true for Jo, but he's not got anything more helpful to say. "Is there anyone you want me to call for you?"

"Stoffel. Just whatever you do, don't call my dad." Jo sounds much younger when he says that, and Marcus can only nod in response as he's lead up to the booking desk.

"You're going to have to take of your shoes, and all those piercings are going to have to come out." Marcus is handed an evidence bag by the officer at the desk and he holds it out as Jo removes them all one by one. When Marcus thinks that he's done he moves to hand the bag back but Jo sticks his tongue out to reveal a tongue stud. He tries not to look surprised but his smile seems stuck on and he can't quite figure out how to stop grinning. Jo winks at him and he's grateful that he doesn't get embarrassed over things like that anymore.

"I think you'd look cute with a piercing."

"We're not allowed them when we're on duty. Is that all of them?" Marcus is growing impatient, as much as he know this is his job, he wants to see Kevin and make sure that he's okay.

Jo starts to unbutton his jeans, Marcus is about to say 'you don't have to take them off' when the light glints off something metallic, and he looks down to see a piercing in the last place he would have expected. His penis is pierced, and not a little piercing, it's a huge ring surrounding the tip of it, coming out right through the slit.

No amount of training in interrogation tactics can keep the surprise off Marcus' face. He winces in sympathy for Jo as he takes it out, staring at Marcus as he drops the ring into the bag. The clink of all the metal jewellery is a fascinating sound, and Jo waits until Marcus has sealed the bag before tucking his penis away, he's enjoying this way too much.

Jo hands over his wallet and his phone, they're all bagged up too, before being led through the scanners and into an interrogation room. Marcus leaves him to put his shoes back on while he waits for the officers. As he's leaving the room Nasr's waiting for him.

"You'll never guess who his dad is." Marcus shakes his head, he's not got time for games. "He's the Commissioner's boy."

Nasr hands him a file and when he opens it up there a picture of a chubby cheeked teenager with curly hair and braces, a shocking contrast to how Jo looks now. There's a few misdemeanours but nothing serious and Marcus knows unless his laptop shows up something they won't have any reason to hold him.

"Anything useful come from the others?" Marcus is hoping that it comes off as casual conversation, his next task is to search through all the computers looking for the rest of the program that was left on the police servers by the hacker or hackers.

"One of them's a lawyer, he's dating the guy who's running the shop while the owner's away with his boyfriend." Nasr shakes his head. "They're everywhere."

"Good job you don't have a problem with that, Officer."

Marcus' stare has him apologising before continuing. "The other guy has refused to talk," Nasr looks down at a different file, "uh, Kevin Magnussen, no criminal record."

"I'm fluent in geek, I'll talk to him." Marcus takes the files from Nasr and forces himself to walk slowly towards where Kevin's being held.

Kevin's sitting alone in the interview room, they're either on a break or waiting for a lawyer to show. If it wasn't for the fact that Paul got caught up in all this, he'd be the one representing Kevin. Unlike television shows, there's no two-way mirrors or cameras recording automatically.

"So you're not talking?" Marcus yearns to reach out and hold Kevin's hand, tell him that it'll all be fine, but he's so used to pretending at work that he can't quite make his muscles move.

"I didn't want to cause any trouble for you."

"If our relationship is the only thing that you're trying to hide, then you won't." Marcus finds the courage to put his hand out and Kevin hesitates before taking it. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Kevin shakes his head, Marcus has never seen him look so small, so vulnerable. It breaks his heart but the best thing he can do for him is get back to work, search the computers so that he can be cleared.

Marcus tries his best to ignore the little bit of his brain that says 'what if he's involved in this?' He'll cross that bridge when they come to it.

The forty-one minutes that it takes to search the hard drives for anything that could be used to hack the police servers is torture for Marcus. The four laptops and computers that belong to customers had the usual assortment of files on it, documents, photos, music and videos. The computer that Dany uses for the shop was filled with invoices and records of that nature. Jo's laptop was a bit of a surprise, the hard drive had recently been wiped and there were no files at all in the usual temporary folders, the internet history had also been wiped, but all it means is that he's paranoid. He sends a note down to the detectives interviewing Jo. Marcus is not sure what to make of it, but if he's involved they'll get to the bottom of it.

Kevin's laptop was filled with programs that could be used for hacking the server, not a surprise but when he finds a base version of the code that was used to steal the files his heart sinks. He knew that Kevin's been bored lately but he can't believe that he could be involved in this.

Marcus walks down to the interview room, evidence in hand. He's able to take comfort in the law, he has to believe that justice will prevail no matter what. Kevin's still being interviewed and he hands the evidence to DI Kaltenborn, wishing that there was some way that he could be in there with him.

"Could you wait here? Just in case we need your expertise?" Marcus nods, slumping down into the nearest seat. If it wasn't for his stab-proof vest keeping him upright he'd be curled over, he's holding the files in his hands and he ends up flicking though them. More to distract himself than anything else.

Jo's file is the usual 'rich boy rebelling against daddy' list, minor damage to private property, a couple of speeding tickets and a minor drugs charge. But the most interesting thing is that he's listed as unemployed; he's dropped out of Uni twice and he's got a spotty employment history, he hasn't stayed at any job for longer than a year. Marcus runs up to his computer, checking through the files for a Stoffel, and it brings back only a handful of hits. He scrolls through until he finds a familiar face, and it's the same story, not enrolled at a University and no job. So why would they lie to Kevin?

He loads up Jo's computer again, there's messages to Stoffel and he knows that this is enough to at least crack some holes in Jo's story. Marcus is scurrying about the corridor by the interview room when DI Kaltenborn emerges.

"I need to speak to the suspect. I think I have a lead." She nods and Marcus rushes into the room.

Marcus doesn't even sit before he starts firing off questions. "Why did you write the program?"

"I was helping a friend who's a student," Kevin says, he looks lost as to what's going on and he's staring at Marcus, hoping for an explanation.

"These guys?" Marcus slaps the pictures of Stoffel and Jo onto the table.

"Yeah."

"They're not students." Marcus finally takes a seat as the detectives watch on in confusion.

"Why would they lie?"

"Because they know you're a specialist in security software." Marcus watches as Kevin slumps on to the hard interview table, banging his head against it.

"I'm an idiot," Kevin says, when he sits up.

"Tell this detective everything you know about them." Marcus grabs the files and goes back out to talk to DI Kaltenborn.

"Can I speak to the other suspects now?" He's pumped up and ready to tear through Jo.

"They've all been discharged. We'll put out an APB on our two 'students'." Her arms are crossed and she's tapping her fingers, anger simmering under the surface, although anyone would feel that way if they'd let a criminal walk free. "Good work today, Ericsson."

Marcus nods, but it doesn't feel good, it won't feel good until they're caught.

He spends the next couple of hours clearing cases, he's like a robot, going through the pre-programmed motions. It's better than doing nothing, worrying about Kevin.

There's a quiet knock at the door, DI Kaltenborn is standing there. "Any developments?"

"We've released your boyfriend." Marcus feels like he's been caught eating sweets on a weekday.

"How…"

"How did I know? You don't get to be lead detective without being able to read people." She presses her finger to her lips, and he whispers his thanks. He can see why she's so good at her job, the ruthless pursuit of justice balanced out by a kind and empathetic soul. "We need you on this case."

"Yes ma'am."

"And we could do with the sus-, Kevin's, expertise. We've got permission to bring him on as a consultant." She stares at Marcus and he feels like he's being interrogated without her even asking a question. "Your relationship may not stay secret for long. Can you cope with that?"

"Anything to help solve the case."

"Nine a.m. sharp. Now go get your man." She smirks at her joke and Marcus nods before grabbing his hat and locking up.

He scurries down to holding, right on time to see Kevin being processed out, he's getting all his personal belongings back and there's a big grin on his face.  Kevin shoves his phone into his pocket and rushes up to Marcus before stopping just in front of him. Marcus knows how much comfort Kevin gets from hugs, in fact any physical contact, so the restraint he's showing must be painful for him.

"Ready to go?" Kevin nods and Marcus leads the way to the car, ushering him into the passenger seat before slipping into the driver's seat. He drives out the car park, heading towards home, but after a few minutes Marcus pulls over into a layby and turns the engine off.

Marcus dives across for a kiss, lips meshing together as tears run down his face, his hand stroking through Kevin's hair as his soft moans fill the car. He brushes Marcus' tears away with his thumb, resting their foreheads together.

"I love you. I love you because you always want justice, because you're the good guy."

"It's not that. I should have stood up and said that you were my boyfriend, been there to comfort you, stand by you."

"You are, you always are. Even when you're not by my side." Kevin takes Marcus' hand, holding it so tight that his knuckles are white. "Let's get you home. I'll drive."

Marcus nods, the tears brimming up in his eyes again. He gets out the car and Kevin drives them home, it's for the best, he's been up for a long time and the stress of the day has taken its toll.

Once they're curled up in bed Marcus is far too tired to think about sex, but certain parts of him haven't got the message, his hard cock pressing into Kevin's back. He thinks about rolling over but he can't bear to let go of his sleeping angel. Kevin's ability to sleep is enviable, although useful with him working shifts, it means they get to spend more time together.


	3. Cooperation

"Did they suspect anything?"

"No." Jo's curled up next to Stoffel on an old scruffy sofa that's doubling as their bed. Not dissimilar to the ones that furnish Dany's shop, this one was liberated from a skip and duct tape hides the numerous tears in the fabric. "And when they saw who my dad was, it was easy to spin them a story."

"What did you tell them?" Stoffel's unzipping Jo's hoodie and kissing along the side of his neck.

"The usual." Jo's got his cover story down to a fine art, how his dad wouldn't accept him when he told him that he was gay. Which isn't true, his dad doesn't mind. How he ran away from home and now he's living with friends, sofa surfing. That bit always explains why the address on his driver's licence might not be up to date. And the icing on the cake is that he's an aspiring novelist, which covers the odd employment history and the lack of a current job with one glorious lie. He's become a master at telling the story and it's got him out of a few brushes with the law since it evokes pity and fear of his dad in equal parts.

"Kevin?"

"Arrested, along with everyone else in the shop. The files are on his laptop and he was the only one still in custody when I was released."

"Officer Ericsson?"

Jo laughs, to the point that he's doubled over and there are tears running down his face. Stoffel's sitting back and wondering what's so funny when Jo calms down. "He's the one that got the honour of booking me in, and I had to take these out," Jo says, playing with his lip ring for emphasis. "All of them." He raises an eyebrow and Stoffel bursts out laughing too.

"I do love this one." Stoffel's hands are diving towards the buttons on Jo's jeans, opening them one by one, teasing Jo, until his cock is free. He eyes up the piercing before taking it into his mouth, tracing it with his tongue as he feels him harden, delighting in the filthy moans falling from his lips.

There's a frantic flurry of clothes being removed, the crackle of static as Jo's chest hair rubs against his t-shirt and stunned silence as Stoffel admires his body, scars and all. Stoffel lunges in for a kiss with such force that he nearly rolls them onto the floor. Jo's strong arms wrap round him, guiding Stoffel so that he ends up straddling him, lips locked in a passionate embrace as the feeling of skin on skin makes them breathless.

Stoffel's kissing his way down, tongue playing with his nipples before tracing along his scars, pausing before placing a solitary kiss to the tip. He spits into his hand, slicking up his cock, Jo's eyes never leaving him, watching in fascination as he lines up. Stoffel moves so that he's balanced, they've fallen off more than once while making love, and although they laughed about it, it does spoil the mood.

He grabs Jo's ankle, hoisting it onto his shoulder as he thrusts on in, the groan of pleasure as Jo adjusts to him is arousing and he has to take a deep breath to control himself. Stoffel stares into Jo's eyes; he can see the love and admiration written on his soul and he could never have imagined that he'd love and be loved so completely that his heart races with every little gesture. That simple things like waking up in his arms and holding hands would make him smile and remind him how lucky he is.

Jo reaches an arm out to stroke his face, he's so lost in his thoughts that he's frozen. He ducks down to kiss Jo, rocking his hips with gentle thrusts at first but he breaks the kiss as he builds up speed. Jo gets to admire Stoffel's beautiful body working away, muscles rippling as he slams into him, he's arching his hips to meet him, demanding more as he rushes towards his climax.

Stoffel sees Jo covering his face with his hands, he knows that Jo's close and that all he has to do is play with his piercing and he'll come. He uncovers Jo's face, makes him stare at him, watch him as he slides his thumb over the ring. Jo shudders at the feeling, lips compressed and eyes wide as he orgasms, come spurting everywhere as he sighs with satisfaction. Stoffel licks him clean before tucking the blanket over him.

Jo's starting to drift off to sleep on the sofa, but Stoffel doesn't even pause before getting up and going to get his laptop. He cuddles back in beside Jo, who's trying to get his attention by kissing him all over, but it's no use, Stoffel's busy working out what they're going to do next.

Stoffel scrolls through the files they stole, looking for a particular one. The soft clicks of the mouse pad speed up until there's a picture of a man on the screen. "Are you ready to dish out some justice?"

"Hell yeah!"

*****

Marcus is waiting for Kevin to get out of the shower, but not having a routine has skewed all sense of time for Kevin and he ends up having to jump in the shower with him. If they'd had more time that would be a nice thing however two grown men trying to get washed in a small shower is awkward. But they can't be late for work; Kevin's brimming with excitement at the thought of working with the police, Marcus isn't sure if it's the thought of using his skills for good or if he's happy not to be unemployed anymore. Although as long as justice prevails he doesn't mind why Kevin doing it.

Marcus is pulling on his uniform while Kevin tries to steal kisses. "You're going to have to wear long sleeves, no tattoos on display at work."

Kevin pouts but finds a long sleeved t-shirt, it's one of Marcus' but they're about the same size so they often share clothes. In fact all their clothes are jumbled together in the wardrobe and drawers and so many are indistinguishable from each other, especially the baggy, comfy clothes like joggers and hoodies.

"Better?"

"Thank you." Marcus sneaks a kiss, making Kevin smile. He sighs, he wants to say something to Kevin but he doesn't want it to be taken the wrong way.

Kevin knows what he's going to say before he's even said it. "For the next ten hours you won't be my boyfriend, you'll be Officer Ericsson."

Marcus holds him tight, one last big hug before their day begins. He nods in agreement, he doesn't like it but it's a discussion for another time. Marcus grabs the car keys and herds Kevin out of the flat, he takes a deep breath before he steps out into the world. It's going to be a long day, and he doesn't know the half of it yet.

He drops Kevin at the main entrance, because he's a consultant and not an officer he's got to sign in at reception each day rather than using the staff entrance from the car park. Although it does make things easier that way, if they arrived together people would start to ask questions and in a building full of trained investigators it wouldn't take long for them to work out that they're dating.

Marcus grabs a coffee before heading to the command centre. He's got all the information about the case on his laptop, he went through it this morning while Kevin was still sleeping, but he's not managed to work out any pattern to the stolen files.

*****

"Name sir?"

"Kevin. Magnussen."

"Arrested yesterday, back here working today. You must have a guardian angel." The officer smiles, his name badge says Lynn and he's got a cheeky look on his face.

Officer Lynn goes off to get a visitors' pass for Kevin and another officer wanders up to the counter next to Lynn's, he's got an equally cheeky smile and a golden tan, and Kevin can't help but eavesdrop as a well-dressed business man approaches the desk.

"I'm Officer Evans. How can I help you sir?"

"I want to confess. I killed her."

Officer Evans darts to the gap at the end of the counter, before reading the man his rights and escorting him away. There's no handcuffs, the man's as white as a sheet and hunched over, it looks like stress and worry have been gnawing away at him for a while.

"Does it happen often?" Kevin asks, when Officer Lynn returns. He nods in the direction of his now departed colleague.

"More often that you would think."

*****

DI Kaltenborn is silencing the room, she's just about to start when Kevin wanders in. He mutters an apology before darting for the nearest chair, which happens to be right next to Marcus. After he's finished getting comfy, DI Kaltenborn goes over the information that they have on both of their suspects, they've not got a lot on Stoffel, they're not one hundred percent sure that it's his real name but it's all they have at the moment.

They've got a lot more information on Jo, full name Jolyon Carlyle Palmer, son of Commissioner Palmer. Now including an up to date photo.

"So, as you can imagine, the Commissioner wants this handled quietly." There's a few grumbles from the room as she says this. "Once we've got the evidence together he'll be charged like anyone else. There's no free passes here. But while we're investigating, a little discretion would be appreciated."

Marcus nods at no-one in particular, she's got a reputation for being firm but fair, and they don't want a lot of press attention until there's something worth reporting on. All it does is cause people to distrust the police more than they already do.

She's going over the files that were stolen, all closed cases. They're trying to speak to the original investigating officers where they can, but given the time that's elapsed since the cases were active, there might not be much useful information gathered.

"They left a decoy, so that we would waste our time chasing the wrong thing." Everyone in the room turns to stare at Kevin and Marcus squirms because of the sudden attention.

"If I had hacked the police server, you wouldn't have been able to trace me." Kevin sounds like he's bragging, although it's true, if he'd wanted to steal those files he'd have been in and out without alerting the whole world to it. Or he'd have used Marcus' security credentials to break in and access them without anyone knowing, if anyone did check it would look like Marcus was working on those cases. There would be no way of tracing it any further than that.

"So why did these guys want us to chase him?" Marcus can't see who asked the question and the voice doesn't sound familiar, but he's not worked with a lot of the people in this room before.

"Good question. Ericsson, do you have any answers?"

"They're taunting us, they want us to know that they've got the files."

"Maybe they're wanting to solve them," Kevin says, as a room full of police officers and detectives frown at the fact that the IT guy and someone that was in police custody last night are investigating the case, and doing a better job than them.

"They're all closed cases," Marcus says, and when Kevin looks confused he adds, "There's nothing left to be solved."

"Maybe you arrested the wrong person!" Kevin gasps, he's been watching for too many films with all this extra time on his hands.

Marcus shakes his head and wanders up to the computer at the front of the room that's connected to the projector.

"Ruled an accident. No-one to be arrested. Case closed." Marcus shrugs, before opening the next file. "Ruled an accident." He knows what the next one will say before he even opens the file. "Accident." Marcus is clicking through all the files, to find that each and every one of them was ruled an accident. Which given the number of cases they investigate, some are just accidents, there's no blame to be apportioned and no-one that deserves to be punished.

"But that one said that a guy died." Kevin's brow is furrowed in confusion.

"Sometimes people die and there's no-one to blame." DI Kaltenborn's taking over control of the computer again as the rest of the room stare at Kevin. "So we've got vigilantes." She sighs and the rest of the room look anxious, "We need to find all the people involved in these incidents ASAP, they could be targets." She looks around the room. "Nasr, I'm putting you in charge of that. Think you can handle it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ericsson, take our guest and do whatever you need to find our suspects."

"Yes, ma'am." Kevin smirks as Marcus says this, he's not used to rules and discipline, the ma'ams and sirs used as punctuation for every sentence.

Everyone's assigned something to do and they're all rushing away to complete their tasks. The sound of fifty pairs of police boots shuffling out of the room is strange to Kevin's ears. Marcus and Kevin are the last two out of the room, he'd left software running while they were at the briefing to see if any other useful information is hidden in the code that Jo and Stoffel used to hack in.

Once they're back in Marcus' little room, Kevin goes over the code in the hope that a second pair of eyes would be useful. Although if the software was unable to find anything useful, the chances of a human finding something are slim. In the end Kevin leaves his homemade software working away while he browses the case files that were stolen. He had to sign a ridiculous number of documents so that he could work as a consultant but it's been fun so far.

"I recognise this guy."

"Mmhm." Marcus carries on typing away, he's lost in his work.

"I saw him this morning." Kevin's nudging Marcus' arm and pointing to the screen. "He confessed."

Marcus scans the screen, before picking up the phone. "Do you remember which officer?" Marcus asks as he waits for the call to be answered.

"Evans."

"Is Officer Evans still on duty?" Kevin can't hear the responses but he can fill in the blanks. "Send him up to cybercrimes." There's another pause and Kevin tries to lean closer but it's of no use. "Thank you sir."

Kevin gives Marcus a look that says tell me everything. "The officer's on his way up. If it's been reopened today it won't have updated on the system yet."

Marcus scans through the case file, it might be nothing, but he needs to make sure there's no connection. It was a road traffic collision, a pedestrian struck on a zebra crossing that was unlit. Police and paramedics attended the incident and the victim was rushed to hospital but died that same night. The driver was breathalysed at the scene and found to be over the limit, but when the blood test came back it was under. The lights at the crossing were faulty and the whole thing was ruled an accident. No further action was taken. With a little bit of time on the internet, Marcus was able to find out that the council's insurance paid out to the victim's family and the whole thing was put to rest five years ago.

There's a light knock on the door and Kevin looks up to see Officer Evans, hat tucked under his arm and the cheeky grin still present.

"Come in." Marcus motions to the free chair, it's a bit of a squeeze but you can fit three people in his room, as long as none of them are too claustrophobic. "Do you recognise this guy?"

"Yes." Evans nods but he looks confused, he's probably not used to being questioned.

"Did he confess to the killing of Laura Hayward?"

"Yes. He said that he was drunk and that it was his fault."

"Where is he now?"

"In holding, he's waiting for a lawyer. We're waiting for a judge to rule on if the case can be reopened."

"Let's go chat to him." Kevin stands up at the same time, but Marcus has to tell him to stay put. He can't be interviewing suspects, he's here to find where the hackers are. Why they're doing this is up to the police to find out.

Marcus is sat in the interview room with the suspect, Stuart Davidson, he looks awful in his crumpled suit, the artificial lights make his skin look sallow and the bags under his eyes suggest he hasn't slept in days.

"Why did you confess today?"

"I couldn't live with the guilt."

"You've been living just fine for the last five years. Why now?" Marcus watches him fidget with his fingers, a sure sign that there's something he's not telling them. "Did someone tell you to do this? Maybe that they'd make everything public if you didn't?"

Stuart gives out a sob, he looks pitiful and yet there's no time for sympathy, unless they know how he was targeted, others may be in danger. "They called this morning, said I had until midday to turn myself in or they'd make sure everyone knew that I was a killer."

There's more tears but Marcus needs all the information. "How did you know they weren't just bluffing?"

"They sent me bits of the police file, photos."

Marcus spends the next thirty minutes wheedling the information out of him, how they emailed him with enough proof to convince him that it was better this way. He didn't want his business ruined over this, an accounting firm that he runs with his brother-in-law.

DI Kaltenborn is waiting for him when he leaves the interview room, Marcus tells her that this would fit with their vigilante theory, which means that all the cases will have to be looked at again. Which must be what the hackers want.

At least now he's got a phone number and email to trace, although with disposable mobile phones and temporary email addresses he might not get far, but it's a start.

*****

Kevin's leg is resting next to his, their knees touching. Marcus has to keep reminding himself not to rest his head on his shoulder, as he often does when they're at home and he's got work to do, or to lean in and kiss him, even though he's right next to him it feels like he's so far away.

He's amazed by how well behaved Kevin's been, he was expecting that he'd have been outed by this time. So why does he feel disappointed that Kevin didn't do anything that would give away the fact that they're in a relationship?

"You know I'm not ashamed of us. Right?" They've never talked about the fact that Marcus isn't out at work, Kevin's never pushed him to do it and the environment is so anti-gay that he told himself being out would get in the way of doing his job. As much as he wants justice for everyone else, he just wants a quiet life for himself.

"I know, I've spent six hours here and I've heard more gay slurs than I have in the six years we've been together."

Marcus sighs, the room sounds quiet now that they've both stopped typing. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I keep thinking if I was out, it would help change peoples' attitude."

"You should come out for you, not for everyone else. It's up to society as a whole to change so that it's no longer an issue."

"When did you get so wise?" Marcus ruffles Kevin's hair, and he nuzzles against him.

"It's been a long year for me," Kevin says and he sounds much older than the age on his passport would suggest.

Marcus wraps an arm around him, glancing at the door to make sure no-one's lurking, before giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

The laptop beeps for attention, signalling that it's finished and it's found something. Marcus has been running traces on both the phone number that called Stuart Davidson and the email. The phone number links back to a pay-as-you-go mobile that was purchased from a batch at a local ASDA, they're a big store with lots of customers. Even if it was Jo that purchased it, it's such a busy place that it's unlikely that anyone would remember him, even with all those piercings. So that's a dead end. But the e-mail shows that it was sent from a coffee shop that has Wi-Fi and in the last twenty-four hours. That means that they'll still have surveillance footage.

Marcus gives Kevin a kiss, a proper meeting of the lips, before darting out. He pauses at the door only to say, "Keep working on that code."


	4. Alliance

It doesn't take long to a get a court order and Marcus is on his way to the coffee shop with Nasr who's grumbling about the weather. Marcus is trying to listen to what he's saying but he's anxious about the thought of coming face to face with Jo and Stoffel again, they were in his home and they tried to frame Kevin for all of this. He can feel his heart race and he's fidgeting in his seat, although most would assume that it's because of the vest, he's not used to wearing it all the time like a lot of the other officers.

The manager of the coffee shop is a cheery woman called Hayley, she wastes no time in escorting them to the back of the shop and away from the customers.

"We've only got one camera," Hayley says with a shrug, it's only a small shop so any more would be overkill. "Points at the door so you should see their faces as they leave."

"Thank you," Marcus says.

"Coffee?" Hayley offers with a smile, and they both accept.

"Black," Nasr says, as Marcus wrinkles his nose at the thought of it.

"Milk, two sugars, thanks," Marcus says. Nasr scoffs at it but Marcus shrugs it off, each to their own.

Hayley returns with the coffees and they're already trawling through the CCTV footage, both murmur their thanks, eyes never leaving the screen as they look out for their suspects. Marcus is hoping that it'll be Jo as he'll be much easier to spot. After twenty minutes of watching people fly past; time passing at a different rate for the little figures on the screen, their movements strange and erratic as the frames skip on, Marcus hits the button to return it to normal speed and it feels like time is slowing for them as they watch a familiar face wander into focus.

"Cheeky little sod," Nasr says, "He actually winked at the camera."

"He knew we'd be wasting time chasing this lead." Marcus can't believe the audacity, he's wanted by the police and he's swaggering about like nothing's happening.

"It's a diversion."

Marcus sighs, he's sick of being one step behind them all the time. "So what are they really after?"

*****

When they get back to the station DI Kaltenborn has left Marcus two case files with a post-it stuck on top.

_We've had another two people walk in off the street and confess to killing people. Both blackmailed._

Inside the files is all the evidence from the original case, plus all the information they could get from the phone calls and e-mails, and the confessions from the victims. Or suspects, it depends how you look at it, if they're guilty of killing someone then they're the criminals, but at the same time they're the victims of blackmail. Although his job isn't to decide that, only to provide the evidence that will allow others to make that judgement.

Marcus hurries back to his room, Kevin's asleep, head slumped on the desk as his laptop works away. Waiting for software to compile and run has to be the most boring bit of the job, but he's always busy enough that there's something else to do while it's running. He tiptoes into the room, trying not to wake his sleeping beauty, admiring him even though there's drool running out of his mouth and onto the desk.

He skims through all the other stolen files, now that they've got three people who've been blackmailed, the pattern is clear. Marcus finds two other cases where there were deaths that were ruled accidents. One has already been contacted by officers and there's a trace on their phone line and internet in case they try to blackmail them. Although given that it was an icy road, unlit and in snowy conditions, the vigilantes might not be after them.

The final case is an interesting one, a woman killed in a road traffic collision, the other car was driven by the former council leader, Helen Campbell, and it was ruled an accident. But the councillor was never breathalysed, or tested for drugs, in fact none of the procedures seem to have been followed in this case.

None of the officers have managed to contact her yet and there's another worrying piece of the puzzle when Marcus checks the file on the victim.

"That's what they're after," Marcus says out loud and Kevin stirs before resting his head back down, he's asleep again by the time that Marcus is heading out of the door, files in hand, in search of DI Kaltenborn.

*****

"Do you think they'll have worked it out yet?" Stoffel asks.

"Not yet, they'll not work it out until we give them the answers," Jo says, smile creeping over his face. They've been leaving a deliberate trail for the police to follow, a decoy so that they can set up the main event.

"It's all set."

"Good."

*****

DI Kaltenborn's surrounded by officers, all working away at the case, hoping to spy that little bit of information that breaks the case wide open and he's about to give it to them.

"This case, with the councillor, the victim's maiden name was Vandoorne." Marcus doesn't care that he's interrupted all their conversations, this is more important than any of that. "None of the procedures were followed and it was ruled an accident. I think she's their target, the others were just a distraction."

"Nasr. Get to her house now, I'll get a warrant for her arrest."

"What's the warrant for?" Nasr asks.

She rolls her eyes. "Perverting the course of justice." A wave of the hand dismisses him, and she wastes no time in getting out her mobile and calling the judge as Nasr rushes out with one of the rookies in tow.

"Do you think the charge will stick?" Marcus asks, once she's hung up. He's used to hearing rumours about how people high up in politics often get away with crimes, but apart from the occasional parking ticket, he's never seen it happen.

"I don't know," she says, shaking her head. Marcus can see in her eyes the toll that the job takes, fighting for justice but not always getting it. "But it'll be the easiest way to keep her safe until we can find out the truth."

"I'll get a trace on her phone and internet," Marcus says, she nods in agreement before focussing her attention back on the officers that are assembled.

Marcus wakes Kevin, it's been a long day for him, but he needs his help now. He fills Kevin in on the basics while he accesses the councillor's computer. Now that the arrest warrant is in force all of her internet and phone records are fair game. She's got one laptop connected to the internet at the moment and it appears the laptop and her phone are the only two devices that connect to the router.

He's rooting through all the places that spyware and Trojan software would lurk, trying to find something. Although if they've not contacted her yet then there might not be anything to find. Although there's a reason that they left her to last, it's not just the connection to Stoffel, although it's plausible that's why they decided to hack the servers for the files in the first place. But if they'd taken that file, on its own, Marcus would have worked out the pattern in no time at all, so they took the others as a decoy and set up the blackmail on some of the more borderline accidental death cases. All to have them looking in the wrong direction.

 

"Ready?" Jo asks.

"Ready," Stoffel says, he hits the button on his laptop and the scripts start to run

 

"Someone's stealing information off her laptop," Marcus says, "Help me trace them."

Kevin flies into action, they're working away, if they can just get an IP address they'll be able to trace them, but they might not have long. It's small files, archived e-mails and documents, that they're taking which won't take long to download. So it's a small window of opportunity that they have to find them.

"Got them!" Kevin says, he's hollering in delight and Marcus is busy sending the information to the armed response squad.

"They're on their way."

 

"Someone's tracing us," Jo says, "Marcus has got more skills than we thought."

"It'll be Kevin, he must be working with the police."

"Cut the link."

"No, I've nearly got it all," Stoffel says.

"We'll have other chances, but if we don't leave now they'll find us!" Jo tries to drag Stoffel out but there's already the sound of sirens blaring in the distance. "I love you, and that means keeping you out of prison." Jo picks up Stoffel, he's screaming and swearing but they can argue about this later. Now they just have to get out of here, get somewhere safe, everything else can wait.

Stoffel's calmed down and he's putting on his bike helmet. Jo's opening the door but the police are already waiting for them. He thinks about running for it but the building must be surrounded. And if he runs, Stoffel would run too, he's okay with being shot but he couldn't bear it if anything happened to Stoffel. So he lies down on the ground and waits for the police to take him. The last thing he sees before he's dragged away is Stoffel slumped on the ground, crying.

 

"They've got them," Marcus says. He slumps down in his chair, the exhaustion of the day catching up with him, it's nearly midnight and he's not had dinner, or lunch. "Thank you."

"It was fun. Maybe I should apply for a job?"

"You should," Marcus says, ducking down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Where are you going?"

"Interview the suspects. I know what they were going to do."

It seems like half the force is waiting for the van with Stoffel and Jo to arrive, even though it's so late, it took a lot of people to solve this case in such little time. DI Kaltenborn is standing, arms folded and foot tapping away as she sends most of the officers home for the night.

"Ericsson. Good work today."

"Thank you ma'am. I'd like to be involved in the interviews."

"One of them has already requested a lawyer so we'll have to wait for them to show. Di Resta, he's a friend of yours?"

"Yes, ma'am." Although friend might be stretching it a bit thin after the police raided Dany's shop and took them all in as suspects. It was a small mercy that nothing was broken or damaged and that the computers for the shop and the customers were returned the next day, thanks to Marcus. Only Kevin's and Jo's laptops were needed for evidence. They're waiting for Dany to get home before telling him, no point ruining his holiday. And luckily Nico's the forgiving type.

Jo's marched past them and into the interview room, Marcus motions for DI Kaltenborn to go in before him but she only smiles, since she's the senior officer she'll be the last one in the room, so that everyone knows she's the boss.

Marcus sits down while the officers cuff Jo to the table. It's not a surprise that he refused a lawyer, even though his dad would be able to get the city's best lawyers in here at the snap of his fingers.

"You were going to expose the councillor's crime. Why not just hack her computer? Why bother with our servers? With the blackmail?" Marcus asks. Given the skills they've shown they could have got all the information off her laptop and gone to the press.

"So it couldn't be covered up. Three people investigating, it's easy to make things go away. But thirty… you couldn't silence them all." Jo leans back in his seat, arms stretched out in front of him where they're restrained.

"Why frame Kevin?"

"Everyone knows he was behind the MCL Bank data leak. And we knew you'd be so desperate to prove that your boyfriend's innocent that you'd play our little game." Jo smiles, it's the sort of grin a cat has before it pounces on its prey. "Sorry. You're not out at work, are you?"

"I am." Jo looks to DI Kaltenborn who nods, it wipes the smirk off his face and Marcus feels an odd sense of relief. Although this is far from how he planned coming out at work. "And I'm not in the mood for your games. If you don't want to cooperate then we'll leave it for the courts to decide." Marcus and the DI stand up to leave, there's nothing more to say, all the evidence points to him and Stoffel.

"It was all me. Stoffel had nothing to do with it."

"Jury will never believe it, it was his sister that was killed. At best he'll go down as an accomplice." DI Kaltenborn sits back down and Marcus follows suit.

"Just tell me that her murderer is going to prison for what she did." Marcus can hear the pain in Jo's voice, he must love Stoffel very much but it doesn't excuse his crimes.

"That's for the courts to decide," Marcus says, and although they've caught all the bad guys, it doesn't feel like justice.

Jo refuses to say anything else, he ends up being taken to jail. Marcus sees Paul on the way out, he can't say much but he tells him that Stoffel's on his way to jail too. Which given the amount of evidence against them, is not a surprise.

Kevin looks like a zombie, he doesn't say a word the entire way home, but once they're snuggled up in bed he finally speaks.

"What will happen to them?" Kevin asks, he sounds so tired.

"Jail. They're very serious crimes they committed," Marcus says, curling in closer.

"It's not fair."

Marcus wants to tell him that justice will be done, but he's not sure what that is in this case. He doesn't want to believe that the ends justify the means, but at the same time he's glad that a murderer is going to be punished for their crime.

He kisses Kevin on the cheek, stroking his hair until he falls asleep. Marcus watches him as he tries to work out what he can do to make this right.

*****

_Former Councillor arrested after new information comes to light._

Marcus leaves the newspaper on the desk, headline staring out at them. "I know it's not quite what you wanted, but she's going to jail for a very long time."

"But so are we," Jo says, he's shown no remorse over what he's done, although Kevin was same right after his adventures with law enforcement. Although he never ended up in jail awaiting trial.

"You do have a choice," Marcus says. He pulls two thick documents out of a plain brown envelope, laying them on top of the newspaper.

Stoffel cracks first, picking it up and leafing through it while Jo tries to look uninterested, although his eyes end up wandering across.

"It's a job offer," Stoffel says, his brow is furrowed and he's looking at Marcus, waiting for an explanation.

"Work for us, or go on trial for your crimes which could be construed as terrorism."

"Nice choice," Jo says, pushing the papers back towards Marcus.

"You've got twenty-four hours to decide, I'll leave these with the guard." Marcus wanders off, he's hoping that Jo's got the sense to take the job offer, his dad's made it clear that there'll be no exceptions just because he's family. But he knows one person that might be able to persuade them both, if only he can encourage them to come visit.

*****

"I'm going to pick Dany up from the airport," Marcus says, Nico was going to do it but given what happened while he was away, it's probably best that Marcus went and smoothed things over.

Kevin mumbles something from the bed, "Tell him I'm sorry."

"Will do." Marcus heads out the door, wondering how he'll explain it all to Dany.

 

There's hugs all around at the airport, and Marcus offers to carry some of the bags. In the car ride back to Dany's place, he lives in the flat above his shop, Dany and Dan tell him all about their holiday, a last-minute getaway to France that Dan had managed to get as a surprise for Dany.

"And there was a whole week with no rain!" Dan said, he's been missing the sun after nearly a year in Britain. He wasn't able to make it home to Australia for Christmas last year, but he's definitely going this year, and taking Dany to meet his family.

Once they're back at Dany's place, Marcus is invited up for a coffee, thankfully it's too early for the shop to be open, so it gives him a chance to tell Dany without him hearing it from other people.

"So how were things here?" Dany asks as Dan comes through with three mugs of coffee.

"Well." Marcus takes a deep breath to steady himself. "We had to raid the shop. But nothing was broken and it was only shut for an afternoon."

"What did Kevin do?" Dany compresses his lips, Marcus can see him trying not to get angry.

"It wasn't his fault." Marcus is hoping to tiptoe around whose fault it actually is, in fact, if he could skip over most of the details and just leave the story here, he would be happy with that. But Dany's having none of it.

"Whose fault is it?" Dany's eyes glint green in the sunlight, it looks like he's going to unleash his evil powers if Marcus doesn't answer him.

"Erm, do you know a Stoffel? Came in the shop sometimes?"

Dany shakes his head, Marcus isn't surprised that Stoffel doesn't ring any bells, he's fairly average looking when you see a lot of customers.

"How about a Jo? Lots of piercings?"

Dany's eyes go wide when Marcus mentions the piercings.

"They hacked the police servers and then left a trail that led to the shop's Wi-Fi."

"I'll rip all his fucking piercings out!" Dany leaps out of his seat and Dan tries to coax him back down but all of Dany's attention is on Marcus.

"I wouldn't do that. Not unless you want to be done with assaulting a police officer."

"You gave him a fucking job!" Dany stomps his foot and scowls at Marcus.

"Not me directly, but…"

Dany's staring at Marcus with a ferocity that makes Marcus squirm in his own skin, like Dany's trying to make his head explode using only the power of his mind.

"Kevin's sorry, if that helps." Marcus fidgets with the edge of his hoodie, he's starting to wish that he'd worn his uniform, at least he'd be able to defend himself if Dany decides to attack.

Dan finally gets Dany to sit back down on the sofa, his lanky legs resting on Dan's thighs. He's mumbling something into Dany's ear but Marcus can't hear what's being said. It ends with a kiss, soft and tender, and Marcus feels like an intruder but he can't leave without it being more awkward so he just sits there.

"Thanks for not telling me while we were away," Dany says, Marcus can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not with his accent.

Marcus catches a glimmer of something sparkly on Dany's hand, and then it dawns on him.

"You two got married?"

Dany holds up his hand to reveal a silver band with a small black stone set in it.

"Since neither of our home countries would allow us to get married, we thought we'd elope," Dan says, he's admiring Dany and his brand new wedding ring. When Dan moves his arm round to hug Dany tighter, Marcus can see he's got a matching ring.

"Congratulations! We'll have to throw you a party," Marcus says, hoping that this will mean all is forgiven with them.

"Thanks mate! It'll be you and Kevin next!" Dan didn't mean for his words to hit a nerve, but they did, he and Kevin had talked about marriage a while ago, before… Before the mess Kevin got himself into, and it hasn't come up again since. But that doesn't stop Marcus wanting it.

*****

"Congratulations on your promotion _Sergeant_ Ericsson."

"Thank you Detective Inspector."

"You can call me Monisha." She looks so proud of him, he's one of the youngest Sergeants on the job, although given that he's heading up the new cybercrimes unit, he's the only one with the skills and the experience. "Think you can handle three rookies?"

Marcus' eyes go wide, mocking fear, before saying, "Getting them through basic training was the hard part." It really was, at least once he had to explain to weary superiors how this would be worth it, and explain to his rookies that they couldn't work for the police without going through basic training.

It took a lot of coercion and bribery, but he's so proud of Kevin for getting through it, for sticking with it. Jo and Stoffel were a little easier to convince, but the threat of life in jail is a powerful motivator.

As he wanders into their new office he almost laughs when he sees them all in their uniforms, Jo's taken his piercings out; although he learned the hard way why it's a rule, after a suspect tried to yank out his nose ring while trying to escape custody. Jo's nifty self-defence skills stopped them tearing it out but it still hurt.

It's a nice bright room, with windows, and he's taking it all in. He still can't believe that he got promoted and that he's in charge of these three misfits.

"Morning Sarge." It sounds like a chorus of school children and they burst out laughing.

"Ready to solve some crimes?"

**Author's Note:**

> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
